Erdogan urges India to resolve Kashmir conflict peacefully

On Sunday, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in New Delhi on two-day visit. He was received by India’s president Paranab Mukherjee who irked Israel and Jewish lobby by saying in Jordan in November 2015, “Palestine belongs to Arabs as England to English people.”

Before embarking on first-ever state visit to India, Erdogan said in an interview he gave to Indian channel WION in Ankara that Turkey wants good relations with India which has world’s largest Muslim minority (150 million) but its 70-year-old conflict over Muslim majority (76%) state of Jammu and Kashmir saddens Muslim Turkey which has 99.7% Muslim majority.

On Monday, Erdogan will meet anti-Muslim PM Narendra Modi. Both are expected to discuss India’s Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership bid and methods to further strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism and trade. Turkey is a member of the NSG which is opposed by China on the basis that India along with Israel, Pakistan and N. Korea are no signatory to NPT.

Erdogan said that Turkey has no objection to India joining NSG as long as Pakistan is also admitted. The US is against Pakistan’s joining NSG under Israel’s pressure.

NSG is another western joke. Only four of its 49 members (US, UK, Russia and China) are nuclear powers. Barack Obama had assured India of Washington’s support to put India in NSG and UNSC. Pakistan is the only Muslim country with nuclear deterrent and Turkey is the only Muslim member of NATO.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the last Indian prime minister who visited Turkey in 2003.

Turkey has been a close ally of Pakistan and Iran under US lead CENTO military pact against USSR during the so-called “Cold War” while India was major ally of Soviet Russia against United States and China.

Turkey was the first Muslim majority state to establish diplomatic relation with the Zionist entity in 1951 followed by Iran under Pahlavi dynasty. India and Israel exchanged ambassadors in 1992. Iran closed Israeli embassy in 1980. Pakistan still refuses to recognize the Zionist entity.

Turkey has always been against Indian occupation of Kashmir Valley. In August 2016, while on visit to Islamabad, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey has always supported Pakistan’s position on Jammu and Kashmir, and will continue to do so until the long-festering issue is resolved.

In October 2016, at the World Energy Council (WEC) meeting in Istanbul, Turkish parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman while speaking to Pakistani delegation reaffirmed Turkey’s consistent support for a negotiated solution of Kashmir within the framework of relevant United Nations resolutions, taking into account the legitimate aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

Erdogan since coming into power in 2003, has visited Pakistan seven times followed by Iran (5 times).

Nearly 100,000 Kashmiri people, mostly civilians, have been killed and thousands have disappeared during the armed resistance and subsequent Indian military operations since 1989. There are 500,000 Indian occupation soldiers in the part of Kashmir annexed by India without the wishes of the local population.

India says the Kashmiri separatists are financed and aided by Pakistan. Pakistan denies the accusation, saying it only gives moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people facing human rights abuses at the hands of the Hindu army.

what is interesting that every time there is some mention of kashmir issue on international platform, there is a quick coincident act of either cross border ceasefire violations or any militant attack in indian administered kashmir….